Pirelli Tyres Fined After Carlisle Worker Suffers Arm Injuries

Renowned tyre manufacturer Pirelli has been fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs after pleading guilty to safety failings following an accident at work, in which a 57-year-old Carlisle worker suffered serious arm injuries.

The unnamed worker suffered fractures to his arm in three places and continues to have difficult moving his shoulder following the incident in January 2012, which happened as he was working to fix a fault on the machine.

Carlisle Magistrates’ Court heard that he had switched the machine to manual mode while repairing an issue with the lubricating parts. He then switched it to automatic and during testing, it became stuck again. He reached back into the machine without thinking and his arm was trapped.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive revealed the fault had been seen several times previously, but no risk assessment was carried out. It was also claimed there was limited supervision, no system to check safe working practices and little knowledge of health and safety procedures.

Commenting on the incident, Jonathan Betts, a Partner and workplace injury specialist at Irwin Mitchell’s Manchester office, said: “This is a terrible case which also provides an example of the huge long-term consequences that work accidents can have on victims, with the worker in this incident continuing to suffer as a result of the ordeal he has been through.

“It is also a set of circumstances which demonstrates the need for employers to ensure they are doing everything they can to maintain standards of health and safety which will ensure their staff are protected from risks.

“Too many people are injured or killed in incidents at work which could have been avoided and it is vital that lessons are learned from each case which ensure improvements are seen in the future.”